


inheritance

by gotham_ruaidh



Series: Gotham Writes for Imagine Claire & Jamie [150]
Category: Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:56:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28600311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gotham_ruaidh/pseuds/gotham_ruaidh
Summary: Claire remembers something about Joe Abernathy. Set in a book 9-era universe
Series: Gotham Writes for Imagine Claire & Jamie [150]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/345047
Comments: 12
Kudos: 68





	inheritance

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted at [Imagine Claire & Jamie](https://imagineclaireandjamie.tumblr.com/post/639581489649106945/hallosassenach-asked-hello-gotham-i-really) on tumblr

“It still surprises me, Sassenach.”

Claire gently stroked Adso in her lap, watching Jem and Mandy and Fanny and Germain tumbling in the dooryard.

“I’ve been married to you for a long time, Jamie, but I still can’t read every thought that crosses your mind.”

Jamie snorted. “Aye, weel - I should have been more specific.” He shifted on the bench beside her - a housewarming gift from Ian and Rachel and wee Ogg, who still (poor child) didn’t have a more “official” name. “I only mean - it surprises me how different Jem and Mandy are from each other.”

“In looks, or in personality?”

“Personality is obvious - she’s brasher than he is, though they both love something fierce and they are smarter than I was at their age. But it’s their looks that still surprise me. Two bairns from the same parents, yet they look so different from each other.”

“Yes, that’s certainly true.” Claire had to agree, watching petite Mandy’s dark curls bounce on her shoulders as she tackled her much taller, red-headed brother. “Though it’s the same with you and Jenny.”

Jamie stretched, and snaked an arm around her shoulders. “Aye, I suppose so. Mam and Da didna look so much like the other, and their bairns truly reflected them, instead of being a mix of them.”

“Well, Jem and Mandy are certainly a mix of both Bree and Roger’s temperaments. Fiery like Bree, yet measured and philosophical like Roger.”

“I suppose that’s a good thing. They can hold their tongues easier than I could, or than Bree could.”

“I’m not quite sure about that. Remember what Roger told us - that Jem was punished by the schoolmaster for cursing in Gaelic?”

Jamie huffed. “That’s something to be proud of - keeping traditions, even in that time when so much has changed.”

Claire watched her grandchildren - mind suddenly two hundred years away.

“Do you remember my friend Joe Abernathy?”

Jamie drummed his fingers on Claire’s shoulder. “Aye. Ye met him in medical school, and then worked wi’ him for a time. He was so generous to Bree and Roger and the bairns when they returned.”

She nodded. “He was the first person who knew that Frank wasn’t Bree’s real father. I don’t know how long he suspected it, but it had to have been for years before I told him. And I remember so clearly what he said to me - _she’s got a lot of you in her, but I’ve never seen anything of Frank_.”

They watched Jem wrestle with Germain in the mud, Fanny and Mandy standing back, holding their skirts away from the fray.

“Did he mean in personality or in looks?”

“Both. Frank was too…academic, perhaps. Too quiet or reserved. Bree had to learn to be that way. And I also remember he said - _Daddy’s got red hair, huh? And he’s one big son of a bitch, or everything I learned in Genetics 101 was a damn lie_.”

Jamie turned to face her, brows furrowed. “What does 101 mean?”

She smiled, leaning against his shoulder. “It’s the most elementary class in a high school or university.”

Jamie nodded, thinking. “Aye. Weel, he was right about that, at least. The puir lass inherited that from me - and I, from the MacKenzie side.”

“She’s not a puir lass at all,” Claire whispered. “She’s the richest lass in the world, because she has you as her father.”

Jamie smiled tightly, and Claire kissed him, and he eased into a smile.


End file.
